Have you seen Hogwarts at 4 AM?

In the Slytherin boys' dormitory.

Linley calmly looked at Hubert, then slowly drew his Rowan wand from his trunk with one hand.

"I'll give you one more chance. Answer me, what exactly are you, McLean?"

He repeated the question.

Hubert was flustered by Linley's gaze. He avoided Linley's eyes, his gaze darting around as he shouted defiantly, though his bravado was clearly a front.

"What are you doing with your wand? Do you want to duel me, Belloc? Stop joking! You're just an orphan born to Muggles! You're nothing and you know nothing! Do you know what people like us call people like you? Mud-"

"Tongue-Tying Curse."

Linley coldly spat out the incantation. A bright red beam of magical energy shot from his wand tip, hitting its target with pinpoint accuracy the next second.

The curse's effect manifested instantly on Hubert. His tongue and the roof of his mouth fused together, rendering him unable to speak. All he could do was emit a series of incomprehensible "wuru wuru" sounds from his throat in panic.

But Linley wasn't finished. He strode quickly to Hubert, grabbed him by the collar, and shoved him against the wall.

Linley was very strong. Ever since he'd transmigrated to this world, he'd exercised every day. While he couldn't compare to adults, among his peers, he was quite robust.

Hubert was pinned tightly by him, unable to speak and finding it difficult to even breathe.

Linley's expression remained calm, devoid of any ferocity, yet it instilled a deep fear in Hubert. His face turned red, whether from lack of air or anger, it was hard to tell. He struggled with all four limbs, but couldn't break free from Linley's grasp.

"I came here just to study properly. I don't want to cause trouble for anyone. But if someone tries to cause trouble for me... the consequences won't just be like this today."

Linley was half a head taller than Hubert. He leaned close to Hubert's ear and whispered.

"Do you understand what I mean?"

Hubert's attitude seemed defiant. He glared at Linley, his gritted teeth seemingly wanting to tear him apart.

"It seems your brain isn't very sharp," Linley shrugged. "I've explained it so clearly, and you still don't understand. Then there's nothing I can do."

He gripped Hubert's neck tightly with one hand, while using the other to grab his hair and slam his head heavily against the wall!

A wave of intense dizziness made Hubert nearly vomit. The subsequent searing pain caused tears and snot to stream uncontrollably from his face.

"Hmm, I've provided a little help to make your brain temporarily clearer. Now, can you understand what I'm saying?"

Linley's voice in Hubert's ears was like a devil's whisper. After all, he was only eleven years old and had no strong, unyielding will.

Unable to speak, he could only nod desperately, signaling that he understood. Only then did Linley release his collar.

Hubert immediately collapsed onto the floor like a drowning man pulled ashore, gasping for air with his mouth wide open.

Linley slowly smoothed his robes, and then, as if his face had changed, a friendly smile appeared. He even crouched down to help tidy Hubert's slightly disheveled school robes.

"I'm sorry, I haven't learned the counter-curse for the Tongue-Tying Curse yet, so I can't make you speak for now. You'll have to wait for the magic to wear off. You won't blame me, will you?"

Hubert frantically shook his head, indicating that he had no such intention. He didn't even have the courage to meet Linley's eyes now.

"You're such a generous and good person! Then I believe you'll let this little misunderstanding between us pass. We'll still be good roommates and classmates from now on, right?"

Linley smiled sincerely, as if nothing that had just happened had occurred.

Hubert mechanically nodded. All he wanted now was to end this painful torment quickly and then lie down obediently on his bed to sleep.

Linley was satisfied with his attitude. He then turned to look at the remaining two roommates in the dormitory. They had been cowering on their beds, watching Linley and Hubert's "friendly interaction" with trembling fear. Now, they just wanted to erase their presence and avoid drawing the victor's attention.

"Good night."

He smiled kindly at them, causing the two children to immediately hide their heads under their blankets.

Linley lost the mood to read at this point. He changed into his pajamas, washed up, and then lay down on his bed to rest.

His method of resolving this matter was crude, but it was the most effective.

This was reality. If you fear trouble, you must make those who want to cause you trouble realize that the consequences of provoking you are dire, so dire that they cannot afford it.

The soft fear the hard, the hard fear the ruthless, the ruthless fear those who are fearless.

Using violence to resolve violence was undoubtedly the most effective.

Of course, the prerequisite for doing so was having equivalent strength.

Linley knew very few spells now, fewer than could be counted on one hand. The only one that could be considered somewhat combat-effective was the Tongue-Tying Curse, a dark curse he'd learned from a few extra books he'd bought at Flourish and Blotts.

According to the book, the creator of this curse was the current headmaster of his school: Severus Snape.

So, in the end, it wasn't that Linley wanted to roll up his sleeves and fight, but rather that he had no other spells to use. Could he cast a Scouring Charm on Hubert?

That would be a joke.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, Linley's long-standing biological clock woke him precisely at four in the morning.

He quietly changed into his robes, washed up, grabbed his wand and textbooks for the morning's classes, and left the dormitory.

The common room was empty.

But a creature that couldn't be called human was standing silently by the fireplace.

Its vacant eyes, like whirlpools that could suck in one's soul, made Linley's skin crawl.

He had no choice but to brace himself and initiate the greeting.

"Good morning, Mr. Barrow."

The Bloody Baron, Slytherin's resident ghost, who had also been present at yesterday's opening feast, sat at the Slytherin's long table.

"Oh, a new Slytherin," the Bloody Baron's voice was soft, yet clearly audible.

"Why aren't you lying in your warm bed a bit longer? The sun hasn't even risen outside yet."

Linley replied honestly.

"I'm usually up this early at home. When I wake up and can't fall back asleep, I like to go for a walk and get to know the Hogwarts environment."

The Bloody Baron nodded. "Early to bed and early to rise is a good habit. If you get lost in the castle, you can ask the portraits on the walls; they should be happy to point you in the right direction."

"Thank you for the reminder."

After bidding farewell to the Bloody Baron, Linley left the common room.

Outside, it was still pitch black, but the eastern half of the sky was showing signs of a faint dawn. It was estimated that it wouldn't be long before he could see his first sunrise at Hogwarts.

Linley pulled his robes tighter and, following the directions from prefect Betty yesterday, went to scout out the Charms classroom.

The staircases inside Hogwarts Castle were quite unruly. If he didn't familiarize himself with the routes, he might very well get disoriented by those mischievous stairs.

It took him an hour to get a general sense of the frequently used classrooms Betty had introduced them to yesterday. During this time, he also successfully walked past the library entrance. He might be visiting often in the future, so scouting the path ahead was necessary.

Around 5:30, Linley emerged from the castle. He planned to do his daily morning run around the Black Lake.

When he arrived at the large lawn by the Black Lake, he discovered that he wasn't the only young wizard up early at Hogwarts.